Director's Series: Billy Wilder's THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966)

The more I write movie reviews, the more I realize that my love of classic films came from my parents - most notably, my father.

He took me to see quite a few movies that were probably over my 7-10 year old head (like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS and just about any James Bond or John Wayne film out there).

He also would sit me down with him in front of the television when one of his favorite films came on TV - which is where I discovered such gems as BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE DIRTY DOZEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE…and THE FORTUNE COOKIE.

This was my father’s favorite comedy and he would impress upon me that Walter Matthau won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film - and it’s a COMEDY!

So, I was a little hesitant to revisit this film as I didn’t want to tarnish my father’s tastes in film in my mind with a modern view of this over 60 year old film.

But, I need not have worried as while this is not up there with Wilder’s Best Films (SOME LIKE IT HOT, STALAG 17 and, especially THE APARTMENT), this is still a very, very good comedy and Matthau was a more than deserving recipient of the Oscar.

The first film that paired Matthau with Jack Lemmon, THE FORTUNE COOKIE tells the tale of a a Sports TV Cameraman (Lemmon) that suffers an injury while filming a football game. While his injuries are slight, his shyster-lawyer brother-in-law (Matthau) realizes that this is a golden opportunity for a big payday and manufactures up major injuries for the cameraman.

This is no new territory as Lemmon is superb (as always) playing the nebishly-bland leading man that is in over his head with the machinations of an unscrupulous being and Matthau excels as the lawyer-with-no-morals who will say or do anything if it means a bigger payday.

The chemistry between Lemmon and Matthau is off-the-charts and they would team up for 8 films (most notably in THE ODD COUPLE two years later). Unfortunately, the script and the dialogue that Wilder and longtime writing partner I.A.L. Diamond give these two is not their “A” material. The duo make “A” results out of “B” writing and it shows from time to time.

But this being Wilder, he is interested in subverting the status quo and this film is no different. While most are watching the back-and-forth between Lemmon, Matthau and the Insurance Company that they are trying to fleece, Wilder threads in a “B” story (that, in the end becomes the “A” story) about a bi-racial friendship between the white Lemmon and the African-American Football player that causes his injury (played by Ron Rich) and this is where the heart of the story comes in (in typical Wilder style). It is a clever poke at the anti-civil rights sentiment of some folks at the time, but never really delivers the payoff that previous works like IRMA LA DUCE and (especially) THE APARTMENT deliver - but it is still quite effective.

Wilder’s career would start to deteriorate after this film, which is why I’m stopping my retrospective here. It’s a good (enough) note to go off on and one that will keep Wilder’s reputation strong in the minds of those that have been following along this past year.

Thanks, Dad, for introducing me to this film (and BIlly Wilder) lo’ those many years ago.

Letter Grade: A- (mostly because of the Lemmon/Matthau pairing)

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)